Mass Incarceration Pros And Cons

To an America accustomed to cruel treatment of prisoners and “tough on crime campaigns”, treating prisoners correctly and giving them freedom may be bizarre. However, it is not the moderate European system that is failing, it is the U.S way that is failing. Although the prison system’s motto is to protect the people and even considering the United States’ large prison population, “we are historically no safer today- nor in any greater danger of harm- than we were a century ago” (America’s Prisons: Opposing Viewpoints Pg. 21). Citizens must ask why it is that despite the huge amount of people in prison, the streets are not safe and why prisoners re-offend after leaving. It is not very surprising that the humiliating and hurtful ways prisoners

Sometimes, any accidental move from a stranger can make an ex-prisoner remember prison and violence and prompt them to act out (America’s Prisons: Opposing Viewpoints). Besides the personal effects, mass incarceration can somehow have an impact on many citizens financially. Because it costs about $28,000 to keep one prisoner in, taxpayers must pay the price (“There Are Many Alternatives to Incarceration”). If alternative methods were used, there could be less of a financial strain on both citizens and the families of the prisoners. Studies show that cost of incarceration can be about $20,000 while cost of treatment is about $4000 (“Treatment or Incarceration”). It is understandable that prisoners are affected emotionally by prison when it involves family life and money issues. Families are broken apart and after release, convicts show no improvement and the negative cycle continues.This anxiety that follows them can even cause them to enter gangs and become violent, despite the conditions in which they entered. Fearing higher officials and punishment is temporary and it is not the same things as being an abiding and educated

Laci states that in state prisons from 1997 to 2000, “191,000 prisoners described themselves as mentally ill- 16 percent of the population” (Prisons and Jails: A Deterrent to Crime?). It is crucial that people with mental health issues be treated in order to achieve a state of peace. However, they are thrown in prison where they can be extremely ill-treated many times. One cannot expect the poor prison conditions and the misunderstanding guards to give them the special treatment that will keep them from reoffending. It is too often that prisoners are either arrested with a mental condition or develop it in prison because of the circumstances in which they are put. In fact, “serious mental illness affects men and women in jail at rates four to six times higher than in the general population” (“Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America”). Even though many people can argue that convicts should not be let off easy when they commit a crime and claim to be mentally ill, receiving proper therapy may be the only way to fix the issue. A program in Arizona, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT), has proven to be an effective alternative because 85 percent of their clients do not go back to prison. FACT is dedicated to transforming clients with mental health issues and getting them “on the right path” (The Huffington Post). Mental Health Courts also aim at